


Smothered

by vix_spes



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-22
Updated: 2012-11-22
Packaged: 2017-12-30 16:48:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1021054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If it wasn’t bad enough having an over-protective lover to contend with, Merlin also has an over-protective King and three other knights.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smothered

Nobody was really sure what shocked them the most when Gwaine decided to settle down: the fact that he had finally settled down or whom he had chosen to settle down with. Sir Gwaine, playboy knight and joker extraordinaire, chose to settle down with Merlin. Then again, there had been a lot of changes in Camelot in recent years since Arthur had become King. For a start, Merlin was no longer simply Merlin, Gaius’ protégé and Arthur’s slightly clumsy manservant. Instead, he was one of Arthur’s advisors and had taken over a large portion of Gaius’ role as chief physician as his mentor frequently found himself hampered by his own ever-increasing age. There was also the little title of Warlock to the Court of Camelot.  
  
The laws banning magic in Camelot had been lifted several years into Arthur’s rule after Merlin had inadvertently revealed his own abilities to save Arthur yet again. All those present at the time (luckily all knights who were close to both Arthur and Merlin) came to the unanimous decision that yes, it was magic and in the past magic had brought them nothing but grief but this was Merlin that they were talking about. Nobody had been more loyal to Arthur or Camelot. Gradually, under advice from Merlin and Gaius (Arthur had looked as though he was going to swallow his tongue at that revelation), Arthur had slowly started to repeal the laws banning magic and reintroducing it into Camelot. They had started with small things that could obviously be seen to be helping Camelot; spells to aid the abundance of crops and healing magic. When this was favourably received by the citizens, further laws were repealed and with each ban overturned, more and more magical folk flooded back into Camelot.  
  
As magic returned to the streets of Camelot, Merlin and his own magical abilities found a captive audience in Arthur and the closest of his knights. Upon discovering that Merlin had magic, Arthur had demanded that he be informed of all of the instances where Merlin had used magic to help him. They had all listened, slack-jawed, as Merlin detailed his dealings with Cedric, Lady Helen, Arthur’s potential stepmother, the Knights of Medhir, Morgana and Morgause’s immortal army and so many other instances. All of the knights, Arthur included, had been amazed with the exception of Gwaine who had grinned, slapped Merlin on the back, and said that he always knew there was something more about Merlin.  
  
Nothing was going on between the two of them then. It was patently obvious to everybody but Merlin that Gwaine was interested in him, but then Gwaine hadn’t completely given up on his philandering ways. The citadel was always rife with the tales of Gwaine’s conquests, but despite the tales, the man was actually a gentleman and wouldn’t talk about what happened so no-one ever knew if there was any truth to the stories or not. It was later as the last of the remaining laws banning magic were abolished and it was announced that a new position, that of Chief Warlock, was being created that the relationship between Merlin and Gwaine seemed to change.  
  
To all those who didn’t know Gwaine well then, in all probability the changes weren’t that obvious. He remained as charming as ever, but toned down his flirting with everyone except Merlin. With Merlin, Gwaine actually increased his flirting to the bewilderment of the man in question. All of Gwaine’s dalliances, which had occurred with both men and women, came to an end as Gwaine’s focus was centred completely on Merlin. It was all highly amusing to watch, if not slightly disconcerting.  
  
At least Merlin, if he succumbed to Gwaine, would hopefully have a positive influence. All the same, Arthur and the rest of the knights watched the events unfold with bated breath. They were all a close-knit group and there was no denying the ructions that could be caused if Merlin were to turn Gwaine down. And therein lay the problem: none of them were completely certain how Merlin was going to react to Gwaine’s advances. After all, they had never seen him with anybody since he arrived in Camelot. So, to say that they were surprised by Merlin’s reaction to Gwaine’s overtures was an understatement to say the least.  
  
Contrary to shying away from them or even ignoring them, Merlin responded favourably and actually flirted back. As the flirting increased, so did the casual touching between the two of them. Gwaine had always been the most touchy-feely of the knights, frequently slapping the others on the back or the odd squeeze of the shoulder but with Merlin it went beyond that. There was the obligatory back-slapping and squeezing of the shoulder, but there was also the hand at the small of Merlin’s back, the easy arm casually draped across Merlin’s shoulders, and the hair-ruffling. All of which Merlin accepted with a slight blush and a shy smile.  
  
Somewhere along the line, kisses were added. Chaste ones pressed to the cheek or the temple that just seemed so natural that, after the initial surprise, nobody batted an eyelid. Of course, the first time that they saw Gwaine and Merlin kiss properly, it was a completely different matter. Gwaine and Elyan were heading out to do a small reconnaissance patrol with six other knights and had been seen off by Arthur and Merlin. All was going well until, just prior to mounting his horse, Gwaine had pulled Merlin in for a kiss that had the knights cheering, Gwaine grinning, Merlin blushing and Arthur apoplectic with rage. He had dragged Gwaine off and even though they couldn’t hear every single word that was being said, it was clear that the King was reading his knight the riot act judging by the snippet that they could hear as well as from Arthur’s gesticulations. It obviously didn’t scare Gwaine off because shortly after he returned from that patrol, Merlin moved from the servant’s quarters next to Arthur’s chambers and the box room in Gaius’ rooms to his own suite and Gwaine started spending several nights a week in there with him.  
  
There were more than a few disappointed people in Camelot, both male and female, when it became apparent that not only was the flirtatious Sir Gwaine off the market, but so was Merlin. The two of them became a familiar sight around Camelot and more than a few of the serving girls could be heard cooing about what an adorable couple they were. So could the Queen for that matter.  
  
Arthur was happy for the two of them, but he wasn’t too enamoured with the bad influence that Gwaine proved to be on Merlin. He had lost track of the number of times that he had caught the two of them snogging in corners; how many times Merlin turned up to meetings looking rather dishevelled with kiss-swollen lips and distinctive bruises on his neck and collarbone; how many stable-boys and stable-hands caught them in the tack room. That wasn’t even taking into consideration the number of complaints he had received about the amount of noise coming from Gwaine’s chambers. The final straw for Arthur was six months into the whole relationship when he arrived in the council room to discover Merlin sitting on the table, his legs wrapped round Gwaine’s waist, and Gwaine shirtless, his hands who knew where. It was at that point that he practically ordered for Gwaine to move into Merlin’s chambers, if only so that they kept their more x-rated activities to the privacy of their own rooms.  
  
Everybody waited anxiously to see whether Gwaine would make a return to his previous behaviour but when a year and then a year and a half passed with the two of them still blissfully happy there was a collective sigh of relief.

 

~*~

  
Everything had been going so well that everyone was more than a little taken aback when it seemed as though something was wrong with Merlin. All of a sudden he seemed to be perpetually tired, his normal good humour vanished, and he lost weight that he could ill-afford to lose as he kept throwing up anything that he ate. Gwaine was at his wits end and everybody else was incredibly worried. Not wanting to worry Gaius, Merlin was adamant that he would heal himself until finally, after numerous failed attempts, Arthur took action and literally dragged a madly protesting Merlin to see Gaius.  
  
Gaius had asked a lot of questions before saying that he had some suspicions, but that he needed to check a few books before he could make a positive diagnosis. In the meantime, Merlin was absolutely fine to carry on with his normal duties as long as he was careful and didn’t over-exert himself. Merlin took that to mean that he was okay to ride out with Arthur and the knights on their last big hunt before the Yule solstice. Normally he wouldn’t be interested, but then normally he wouldn’t have been cooped up in the castle for the last six weeks because everybody was so worried about him. Taking that into account, the trip was nothing like Merlin had expected. It was certainly nothing like the trips he had been on as Arthur’s man-servant.  
  
When Merlin had accepted his new role within Camelot’s court, Gwen had made it her task to improve the disaster area that was Merlin’s wardrobe. When Merlin had protested, she had insisted that as Chief Warlock he could no longer dress in rags unless he wanted to shame the whole court. Knowing that it was far simpler to capitulate gracefully, Merlin had given his consent on the proviso that he didn’t have to wear anything ridiculous and that Gwen didn’t make him dress like Arthur. Gwen had agreed and had kept to her promise. Merlin got a wardrobe that befitted his new status to her satisfaction but most importantly to Merlin, his new wardrobe was identical to his old one simply richer in both quality and quantity.  
  
For this hunt, all Merlin had to do was pack his own clothing and even then all he’d really done was supervise. Gwaine had insisted on doing Merlin’s packing for him and then also insisted on tacking Merlin’s horse for him. It was all a bit surreal really as Merlin was normally the one who made all of the preparations for the various hunts that Arthur undertook, but for this trip, his first since he had been promoted from his position as Arthur’s manservant, all he had to do was to turn up at the time that Arthur had specified.  
  
They soon realised that nothing about this trip was going to be normal or as it had been in the past. The knights could go barely an hour without checking to see if Merlin was feeling alright. He was given food first every meal even though he would normally throw it back up before the others had barely taken a mouthful and most mornings he woke up with Gwaine wrapped around him like an octopus and seemingly buried under blankets because the knights thought that he looked cold. They were on their last full day of the hunt when Merlin fainted and nearly fell off his horse.  
  
That was the last straw for both Arthur and Gwaine. The King ordered that Merlin returned to Camelot escorted by Gwaine (by escort, he meant riding on Gwaine’s horse so that he couldn’t fall off and damage himself further) and that he wasn’t allowed to leave the castle or exert himself until Gaius had made a diagnosis. Merlin did think about putting up a protest, but judging from the glares that he was receiving from both Arthur and Gwaine combined with the worry that was visible on the faces of Leon and Percival, he knew that it was pointless.  
  
The trip back to Camelot was quick; a hell of a lot quicker than the journey away from the city, as Gwaine took the horse at a breakneck speed, only stopping for the briefest moments. The minute that they were actually inside Camelot, Gwaine jumped down and helped a rather disgruntled Merlin down although that was after every single protest was ignored. The horse was left with a stable-hand and one of the stable-boys was dispatched to find Gaius and inform him that he was needed back in his chambers. Merlin was then swiftly escorted to the chambers that he had previously shared with Gaius.  
  
They had barely been waiting for ten minutes before Gaius hurried in, breathing a bit heavier than usual and looking rather worried.  
  
“Merlin? What happened? The hunt isn’t supposed to be back for another three days.” He demanded, his worry clear in his voice.  
  
“He fainted. That’s what happened. Nearly fell off his bloody horse. He insisted that he was fine but Arthur and I both thought it was best that he came straight back here to be checked over.”  
  
“Yes, you were quite right about that Gwaine. Don’t sulk Merlin, you know that that was the right thing for them to do. So you fainted, have you been feeling nauseous as well still? Tired?”  
  
“Well yes, but I haven’t been throwing up as much. I actually kept breakfast down while we were away.”  
  
“Once. You threw it back up the other two mornings.” Gwaine shrugged unrepentantly as his lover glared at him. “You were always the first to fall asleep and the last to wake up as well.”  
  
“Sir Gwaine, if you could go and wait outside it would be appreciated. I would like to speak to Merlin by himself.”  
  
“What? No! Not a chance. If I don’t stay in here and hear what you’ve got to tell him, what’s the chance that he’ll actually tell me what’s wrong with him? He’ll just fob me off and insist that he’s fine. You know what he’s like.”  
  
“Gwaine, it’s alright. I promise that I’ll tell you what’s wrong with me. Please, can you just go and wait outside?”  
  
Gwaine capitulated at Merlin’s request, but still grumbled as Gaius showed him to the door, insisting that he would be waiting right outside as soon as they were finished. The fact that Gaius locked the door as soon as Gwaine was outside set Merlin on edge. There was obviously something more going on here.  
  
“You might want to sit down for this my boy.”  
  
“Gaius, you’re starting to worry me. What’s wrong with me? Why didn’t you want Gwaine in here while you tell me what’s wrong?”  
  
“Merlin, just sit down my boy. I’m in no shape to be catching you if you do fall down when I tell you.”  
  
Merlin sat down, but it was obvious that it was under duress. “Gaius, just tell me what’s going on. I’m dying, aren’t I?”  
  
“You’re not dying Merlin, but the results won’t be what you’re expecting.”  
  
“Well I don’t know what I’m expecting so just tell me. The only thing that I can think of is so ridiculous that it can’t possibly be true.”  
  
“You’re pregnant.”  
  
There was several minutes of silence before Merlin started laughing, the laughter becoming hysterical as he realised that Gaius wasn’t laughing and that he was, in fact, deadly serious.  
  
“You’re not joking. You think I’m actually pregnant.”  
  
“There is no think about it Merlin. You’re definitely pregnant. I’ve gone through all of my books and it’s the only thing that all of the symptoms point to. The tiredness, nausea, fainting and irritability are all classic signs. Admittedly it is for women and I’ve never heard of a pregnant man but I’m afraid that you do have a tendency to defy reality.”  
  
“Great. So not only am I the Chief Warlock of Camelot, I’m also the last Dragonlord and if that wasn’t bad enough, I’m pregnant. What did I ever do? As if I couldn’t get any weirder. How am I going to explain this to Gwaine? How am I going to explain it to Arthur?” Merlin stood up as quickly as he could and made for the room off Gaius’ chambers that had always been his prior to his promotion.  
  
“Merlin, where are you going? Shouldn’t you tell Gwaine?”  
  
“I don’t really want to talk to him right now. He’s the one that got me pregnant. He can just wait until I’m ready to tell him.”  


~*~

  
_Three months…_  
  
By the time that he had passed the first three months, Merlin was fairly certain that he was _this close_ to murdering the King of Camelot and four of said king’s most senior knights. He understood that they were worried about him, but there was worried and then there was over-protective. He had thought that they were bad before they discovered that he was pregnant, but that was nothing compared to how they were now. He was seriously considering ensuring that Gwen became pregnant just to deflect some of the attention away from him; surely the heir to the throne was more important than his child?  
  
To be perfectly honest, he was amazed that Gwaine hadn’t run away screaming the minute that he found out, desperate to be as far away from Camelot and Merlin as feasibly possible. Instead he had been thrilled, something that had shocked Merlin considering how he had hidden from Gwaine for nearly three days until Arthur had returned to Camelot and dragged him out of Gaius’ chambers.  
What had bemused him was the fact that nobody had seemed to be particularly surprised that he was pregnant. Instead, Gwaine and all of the others had started hovering over him as though he were breakable, like a fragile piece of porcelain. It was as though having magic meant that all the freaky quirks of nature were just normal for him.  
  
He supposed that he could understand it in a sense. He certainly hadn’t been well for the last three months. It was only in the last couple of days that he had been able to start eating normally again, much to his relief, never mind those closest to him. The cooks and the kitchen staff had been near to tears trying to figure out meals that he would be able to eat and wouldn’t throw up merely at the smell of them. This had concerned Gaius to no end as Merlin had been too skinny by half to begin with. Rather than gain weight, other than the baby bump that was just starting to show if he was shirtless, Merlin had actually lost weight. So the fact that he was starting to eat again was greeted with delight by everyone. Arthur had even gone a step further and, after Merlin had sat through an entire dinner the previous evening, announced that there would be a huge celebratory dinner. Not only for the fact that Merlin was eating again, but that he was letting Gwaine near him again, because a cock-blocked Gwaine really wasn’t fun.  
  
Arthur had dragged Merlin out of Gaius’ chambers and into Merlin’s own, locking him in with Gwaine and refusing to let him out until he had explained what was going on. Considering Gwaine’s nature and the fact that Camelot was the first place that he’d stayed for a decent amount of time in years, Merlin had expected him to run from his latest revelation.  
  
After all, pregnancy wasn’t something that you expected to deal with when you were sleeping with a man. He hadn’t been prepared for Gwaine to be happy about it and make some comment about Merlin definitely being his now. He equally hadn’t been prepared for Gwaine to point out that they had been doing the whole domesticity thing for a while now and that Gwaine was still there. He had come back to Camelot for Merlin and he had stayed for Merlin. As long as Merlin was happy with being pregnant then so was Gwaine. Merlin wasn’t entirely sure that he was happy about being pregnant, but he couldn’t deny that he didn’t dislike the idea of a child that was both his and Gwaine’s so when Gaius had asked him if he wanted to go through with this he had answered positively.  
  
 _***FLASHBACK***_  
  
“Gwaine, how do you feel about this? Really?” Merlin craned his neck to see Gwaine. “I mean, pregnancy wasn’t exactly something that you signed up for.”  
  
“No, it wasn’t something that I thought would happen but that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad thing.”  
  
“Yes but you said that you’re okay with this but are you really sure about that? I mean, are you really prepared for what’s going to happen?” Merlin was fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. “I’m going to get huge, there are going to be cravings and hormones going crazy. Then there’s the birth and who knows how that’s even going to happen. Gaius thinks that the safest and easiest thing is going to be for him and the midwife to cut me open when it comes to the birth. Thankfully he doesn’t think that I’m going to breastfeeding. It’s freaky enough that I’m a pregnant man but a breastfeeding pregnant man would be even worse.”  
  
“Are you okay with this?” Gwaine wrapped an arm around Merlin. “It sounds as though you aren’t completely comfortable with this.”  
  
“No, it’s not that I’m not happy that I’m pregnant it’s just not something that I ever thought would happen to me. I mean, I’m with you; I never thought that children were an option. We’ve never had the conversation about children because we never thought that children were a possibility. It’s just a big thing to wrap my head around. I mean, I’m pregnant.”  
  
“Yes you are, and I got you pregnant.” Merlin didn’t have to be able to see Gwaine to know that he had a huge grin on his face.  
  
“Oi! You don’t have to sound so smug about it!”  
  
“What?!”  
  
“You know what!” Merlin laughed before he sobered up. “You sure you’re happy with this? That you’re okay with this? It’s an awful lot of commitment.”  
  
“Merlin, I came back to Camelot for you and I became a knight for you; it certainly wasn’t for the Princess. We’ve been together for over a year and a half now; do you really think that commitment is an issue?”  
  
“I suppose not.”  
  
“You suppose right. Yes, you’re pregnant, no we weren’t expecting it but yes, I’m very happy about it. Now, do you have anything else to say?”  
  
“Yes, stop talking and kiss me.”  
  
Gwaine grinned wolfishly. “Now that would be my pleasure.”  
  
 _***END FLASHBACK***_  
  
The delight at being pregnant didn’t last long and Gwaine bore the brunt of Merlin’s displeasure. The symptoms seemed to be never-ending. Of course, if you were to ask Gwaine what the worst thing was, it was obviously the fact that Merlin’s libido was non-existent. Considering how active their sex life had been prior to Merlin’s symptoms making an appearance that was saying a lot. Gwaine was becoming very good friends with his left hand and that hadn’t happened for years. There were a number of people who had been sceptical about their relationship from the beginning and had been somewhat surprised when the knight had stuck around when Merlin’s pregnancy was announced. And even more surprised when Gwaine didn’t look elsewhere when Merlin’s libido became dormant. What they didn’t seem to realise was that, for the first time ever when Gwaine was involved with somebody, there were feelings involved. He was actually in love with Merlin and those feelings were reciprocated. The thing was, Merlin wanted Gwaine just as much as ever, but between his variety of symptoms, Merlin just had no energy to spare.  
  
As far as Merlin was concerned, the worst was the nausea and the sleeplessness. He never seemed to be getting any sleep because his supposed morning sickness wasn’t confined to the mornings and could hit him at any point of the day or night. It had gotten so bad that on nights before Gwaine had to leave on patrol, the knight would actually sleep in his old room so that he could actually get a decent night’s sleep. Then there were the headaches. Probably contributed to by the lack of sleep that he was getting, the headaches were affecting his ability to control his magic and it was making him irritable because, while his magic was what had caused his pregnancy, it was also the one ‘normal’ thing that he still had left.  
  
The heightened sense of smell had kicked in fairly quickly which meant that Merlin’s ability to aid Gaius was compromised. As Merlin had started helping Gaius more and more with his duties as court physician he had discovered that he enjoyed it, although probably not enough for him to do it full-time. However, only last week he had been informed - or rather triple-teamed by Gaius, Gwaine and Arthur - who had told him that his duties had been curtailed. He was no longer allowed to assist Gaius in making the potions and tonics for the people of Camelot and neither was he allowed to conduct visits with the sick. When he had protested, he had been informed that it was potentially too dangerous as none of them knew how a male pregnancy differed to that of a normal female pregnancy and none of them wanted to take the risk. He had argued and protested to the best of his ability but against the three of them he had no luck. All he could do was console himself that he still had all of the other things that he normally occupied himself with - his experimentation with all of the magic texts that they had discovered hidden away by Uther and the teaching that he did with a select group of children that had shown evidence of magic.  


~*~

  
_Six months…_  
  
Merlin stormed down the corridor, or rather stormed as best as he could considering that he was now roughly six months pregnant. He was absolutely furious and ignored the cries from behind him coming from both Gwaine and Arthur. His lover and his friend had just announced that he was now no longer allowed to tutor the children that he helped with their magic and that he should seriously consider limiting his own magic use as it wasn’t always working as he wanted or as he intended it to. In a complete sulk, he made a diversion via the kitchens to find some food from the cook. The woman had always had a soft spot for him but now she was outright spoiling him before making for Gwen’s private chambers and what had become a sort of sanctuary for him when his lover and her husband were driving him insane, something that was becoming incredibly frequent.  
  
For quite a long time he had worried about how Gwen would take the news that he was pregnant. In addition to the difficulties that she had encountered with some of the older women at court when she had married Arthur, more recently there had been whispered comments about the fact that she had, as yet, failed to produce an heir to the throne or a child at all. Gwen had borne the strain well but Merlin knew that it didn’t sit easy with her and he was all too aware of how difficult it could be for her to deal with the knowledge that he, a man, was pregnant where she was not. He had spent the entire first three months of his pregnancy fretting about it and doing his best to avoid both Gwen and Arthur (one of which was easier than the other), which was no mean feat in itself considering his role in Camelot, until they both grew sick of his avoidance and sat him down for a conversation. Only when they pushed him did he reveal his worries and his concerns. It definitely wasn’t the easiest conversation that the three of them had ever had but it had put several of his worries to rest. Gwen had admitted that there was a lot of pressure on her to produce an heir and that it probably wasn’t ideal that Merlin had fallen pregnant before she did but she didn’t begrudge him his pregnancy. If anything, she had needed the last couple of years to get used to being the Queen of Camelot rather than simply a servant and the fact that she had been able to adapt without the hindrance of a pregnancy had been a bonus. That didn’t mean that there hadn’t been signs of jealousy as Merlin’s pregnancy progressed and his body started to reflect the changes that it was undergoing. It had taken them a while before they had been able to return to the friendship that they had had before Merlin’s pregnancy had been discovered but Gwen had become his staunchest supporter amongst the few that disapproved of his pregnancy in Camelot and was more than willing to fight in his corner when he felt as though he was being smothered by Gwaine and the knights. The time that he spent in Gwen’s private chambers had become like a breath of fresh air for the warlock, somewhere where he wasn’t treated any differently because of his current condition.  
  
At this point in time though, he didn’t particularly care whether Gwen was even present, the important thing was that her rooms were a sanctuary that neither Gwaine nor Arthur would brave as neither of them wanted to brave the wrath of the Queen. All he wanted was somewhere quiet where he could eat his food and sulk. That was one good thing now that he was further into his pregnancy; he could actually eat again. Or rather he could eat without throwing it back up again and that was fairly impressive given some of the things that he’d been eating. Almost as soon as he had hit the three month mark, his morning sickness, or rather twenty-four hour sickness, had disappeared and he was eating anything and everything that he could get his hands on, something that the kitchens were more than happy to oblige him with. He had been on the receiving end of a few disgusted looks, but a large proportion of the female population of Camelot had been understanding, having been held hostage by cravings themselves. On a couple of occasions, the concoctions that he’d come up with had been so disgusting that Gwaine had actually refused to come near him.  
  
As far as Merlin was concerned, Gwaine deserved a medal for having put up with him for the last six months. And there were another three months left. Merlin knew that nothing was really his fault, it was the hormones that were wreaking havoc with his body but that didn’t stop him from feeling guilty. He seemed to alternate between desperately wanting Gwaine and being ridiculously horny or pushing Gwaine away in floods of tears because he thought that he looked hideous as his body changed with the pregnancy. Merlin had been treated to back massages and foot massages and had been waited on hand and foot. It was all rather lovely, even though he had chafed at the treatment sometimes. He had even argued with Gwaine about it.  
  
His arguing didn’t seem to do any good however. He could barely lift a finger without Gwaine rushing to help him. It wasn’t just the massages though, although had definitely been lovely when he had still been allowed to stand up and carry on with his work. There were the other things, like venturing into the library when Merlin was forced to spend time in bed, a place which he hated with a vengeance, in order to collect books so that Merlin wouldn’t be bored. He cut down the amount of time that he spent in the tavern almost totally and spent his evenings with Merlin instead, despite Merlin’s protestations that it wasn’t necessary. There had been presents, both little things for the baby and little trinkets for Merlin ‘just because’. He even braved the wrath of the cooks when Merlin was having three am cravings which was risky considering how much she hated Gwaine after he and Percival had stolen that roast chicken that was supposed to be Arthur’s dinner a few years ago. Merlin had the feeling that, if he had still had chores to do, Gwaine would have been doing them for him.  
  
Gwaine had been a part of the pregnancy all the way along, attending all of the check-ups that Merlin had both with Gaius and with the midwife, and it wasn’t just Merlin that had been surprised by how attentive he had been. When they had discussed the fact that Merlin was pregnant, Gwaine had reassured Merlin that he was happy about it and that he would stand by him but Merlin hadn’t been prepared for this. Not that he was complaining, but he just hadn’t been prepared for how attentive Gwaine was being. He was so used to being independent that it had taken more than a little time to get used to. He also couldn’t help but wonder if it was going to continue after the birth, if Gwaine would dote over their child as much as he had been doting over Merlin. Merlin had the feeling that he would.  


~*~

  
_Nine months…._  
  
Merlin knew that he should be paying attention to what Arthur was saying given that it was a council meeting to do about magic, but he had the curious feeling that something was going on even though he wasn’t completely certain what it was. To be perfectly honest, he wasn’t even supposed to be in this meeting seeing as Gaius had put him on bed rest a month ago, but he was so sick and tired of staring at the same four walls that he had begged and pleaded with Arthur to let him attend this one meeting. It hadn’t been easy, but it had been made a damn sight easier by the fact that it was only Arthur that he had had to persuade. Gwaine wasn’t in Camelot at this precise moment in time otherwise he would have protested up a storm. Between Gwaine and Arthur, Merlin was amazed that he was even allowed to feed himself. Gwaine he could understand seeing as he was Merlin’s partner, but Arthur, he was so over-protective that it was ridiculous. Anyone could be forgiven for being mistaken that he was the baby’s father rather than Gwaine. God help Gwen when she finally became pregnant because he was going to be absolutely unbearable.  
  
That wasn’t to say that Gwaine was any better. It seemed like Merlin hadn’t been able to do anything by himself for the last nine months and while it had been incredibly sweet at some points, at others it had been incredibly frustrating. It had taken Merlin six hours just a few days ago to persuade Gwaine to leave Camelot for a few days.  
  
 _***FLASHBACK***_  
  
“Merlin, you are nine months pregnant, our baby is due in less than two weeks and you want me to leave you? Do you have any common sense left?”  
  
“Gwaine…” Merlin tried to protest seeing as they’d been having this conversation on and off for the last six hours but received a glare for his troubles so closed his mouth with an audible snap.  
  
“There’s a reason that you’re confined to the citadel, it’s too dangerous for you to be walking around by yourself. You can barely move from our rooms by yourself yet you want me to leave in order to fetch your mother? Have you gone completely mad?”  
  
“No, but we agreed that mum would be here for the birth rather than coming earlier while I was pregnant so she needs to be here.”  
  
“We’ll send one of the other knights to fetch her. Leon will go or Percival. I’m not going to leave you now, it would be madness.”  
  
“Gwaine it has to be you. Mum doesn’t know any of the other knights and it’s not as though Arthur can go is it? I’d be so much happier if you went to fetch her, it would ease my mind knowing that it was you. Surely that’s the best thing for me at the moment. You know I’m supposed to have as little stress as possible.”  
  
“And what about my stress Merlin? Did you think about that? You might be less stressed knowing that I’ve gone to fetch Hunith but what about my stress knowing that I’ve left you when you could give birth at any day?”  
  
“Please?” Merlin wheedled, shamelessly pouting and widening his eyes as much as he could in order to guarantee that he got the result that he wanted. He had come to learn what ensured him getting what he wanted and he certainly wasn’t above using any means necessary to get what he wanted this time as well.  
  
“That’s not fair Merlin; you know full well that I can’t say no to you when you look like that. You’re nearly as spoilt as the Princess. Fine, I will go and fetch your mother on several conditions. You have to agree to all of them before I will agree to go. Do you understand?” Gwaine waited for Merlin to nod before continuing. “You are not allowed to leave these rooms unless you have Gaius’ express permission and even then you are not allowed to go anywhere unless you are escorted by Arthur, Leon or Percival. Nobody else. You have to have an escort because I don’t trust you to not fall down the stairs and break your neck. You will look after yourself and listen to Gaius, obey everything he says to you. Agreed?”  
  
“Agreed.” Merlin nodded fervently, he would do anything if it meant that Gwaine would go and fetch his mum. He hadn’t mentioned it to anybody except for Gwen but he was starting to get more than a little nervous now. He leant forward and kissed Gwaine gently. “Thank you.”  
  
 _***END FLASHBACK***_  
  
Arthur had been incredibly accommodating and, for the last three months, had ensured that Gwaine was kept on rotation inside Camelot itself. Merlin knew that that had to have grated on Gwaine, free spirit that he was, but he had never complained and Merlin couldn’t have been more grateful. However, now that the end of his pregnancy was near, and that the birth of his child was imminent, Merlin had been overcome with the need to have his mother nearby so Gwaine had been dispatched to Ealdor to fetch Hunith.  
  
Knowing that Gwaine really didn’t want to leave Camelot and Merlin, Leon and Percival had offered to make the trip, but Merlin had been adamant that he wanted somebody who knew Hunith to go and seeing as Arthur really couldn’t go, that only left Gwaine. Hunith had been informed that she would become a grandmother shortly after Merlin had passed the first three months. She had immediately offered to make the trip to Camelot but Merlin had dissuaded her, telling her that Arthur and Gwaine were already smothering him with all of their mother-henning and that he would no doubt find her presence more useful for the birth and once the baby had been born. Hunith had agreed to his reasoning, however reluctantly, and letters had flown back and forth between Ealdor and Camelot. Now, with just a few scant weeks left until Gaius presumed the baby was due, Gwaine had been dispatched to collect Hunith with orders to get there and back as quickly, and as safely, as possible.  
  
Merlin winced as he shifted position minutely in the overly cushioned chair. There had been a dull ache at the small of his back all day, ever since he had woken up, and seeing as his own personal masseuse was somewhere between Camelot and what had been Cendred’s kingdom, he had no way of alleviating the pain. He grimaced as it turned sharp for a minute, but inwardly groaned as Arthur caught sight of his discomfort. When it looked as though Arthur was potentially going to do something silly like adjourn the meeting early, Merlin shook his head and kept his resolve as Arthur fixed him with narrowed eyes. Knowing that Arthur was now watching him closely, Merlin made a concerted effort to pay attention for the rest of the meeting. He even managed to make several contributions, but by the time the meeting ended, he had had several more sharp pains and he knew that it was all more serious than he had been trying to tell himself. As the meeting ended and everybody else present left the room as quickly as possible, Merlin simply stayed where he was and waited for Arthur to come to him, as he knew was inevitable.  
  
“Merlin, what’s the matter? Don’t try to tell me that you’re okay because you’re not so don’t try to be stubborn.”  
  
“I’m not going to be stubborn. I need you to send for Gaius.”  
  
Arthur gestured for Robert, the man who had taken over as Arthur’s manservant and who was hovering nervously in the background, to go and fetch Gaius while he filled a goblet with water and helped Merlin drink it. “Okay, Gaius is on the way now, what’s the matter?”  
  
“Well don’t panic or anything but I think I might be about to have the baby.”  
  
Merlin sat back and watched, with no little amusement, as the King proceeded to panic. A lot. Seriously, if he hadn’t known better then he would have thought that Arthur was the father. That stray thought made him think of Gwaine and he proceeded to have a minor panic of his own. He couldn’t have the baby yet. For one thing, it was too soon. It was a whole two weeks before Gaius had implied that the baby would want to make its way into the world and more importantly, Gwaine and his mum hadn’t arrived in Camelot yet. He couldn’t have this baby if Gwaine wasn’t here. He just couldn’t. He desperately wished that he hadn’t been so insistent on Gwaine going to fetch his mum. He took some comfort from the knowledge that Gwaine would surely be riding at break-neck speed and thus couldn’t be too far away and gasped as a ripple passed across his stomach, rubbing it in an attempt to soothe the cramping muscles.  
  
“Ssshh baby, you need to hold on until your daddy gets here. If I have to go through all this pain then he needs to be here to suffer with me and if Gaius has to cut me open to get you out then he’d better bloody be here. Please baby, just hold on until daddy arrives.” He breathed a sigh of relief as Robert entered the room with Gaius in tow and his surrogate father took control of the entire situation.  
  
“Arthur, I’d send a rider out to meet Gwaine and Hunith. They should be fairly close by now and they won’t be taking their time, but it would probably be better if they knew that there’s now some urgency to their arrival. Let’s have a look at you my boy.”

 

(~*~)

  
By the time that Gwaine arrived at a run outside the chambers that he and Merlin shared, Arthur was pacing up and down, occasionally running his hands through his hair. Leon was leaning against the wall opposite the door and Percival was slumped against the wall at Leon’s feet. A mere minute behind him was Hunith who had been led by Robert. It had been almost seven hours since Gaius had appeared in the council chamber and, rather than stop for the evening and arrive in Camelot around midday, upon receiving the messenger, Gwaine and Hunith had ridden through in order to arrive at Camelot as soon as possible.  
  
“Well?” Gwaine looked absolutely frantic. “What’s going on? How is he?”  
  
“We don’t know. Gaius and Gwen banned us from entering hours ago after we brought him up. The only people who’ve been allowed in are Gaius’ assistant, the midwife, and her assistant. The wet nurse has been sent for as well.”  
  
Gwaine raked a hand through his hair, not looking impressed by Arthur’s words. Hunith didn’t seem at all fazed by Arthur’s words and, nodding at the King, knocked on the door and slipped inside. As she did, Gwaine joined Arthur in pacing up and down while the other two knights who were present simply watched them. This continued for nearly an hour before there was a sharp cry from inside, the distinct wail of a newborn and the attention of all the men present was immediately focused on the door. It opened within minutes and Gaius’ assistant, the midwife and her assistant exited the room carrying armfuls of equipment and some bloodied sheets followed by the Queen herself who smiled at Gwaine.  
  
“Go on in Gwaine and congratulations on the birth of your son.” She smiled as the knight seemed to stop breathing temporarily and walked over to join her husband, stopping him from entering the room as well. “Give them time by themselves. The baby’s healthy and Merlin’s well. You’ll see him soon enough.”  
  
Meanwhile, Gwaine had entered the chambers that he shared with Merlin and sagged in relief as he saw that Merlin was well, albeit exhausted, and clutching a small bundle to his chest. He accepted the congratulations of Gaius and Hunith who exited the room as he entered. Gwaine immediately approached the bed and sat down by Merlin’s hip, leaning in to kiss Merlin gently on the lips before looking down in awe at the baby cradled in Merlin’s arms.  
  
“Is that?” Words failed him as he finally saw his child.  
  
Merlin smiled as he pressed another kiss to Gwaine’s lips and shifted slightly on the pillows with a slight grimace that had Gwaine fussing around him. Merlin rolled his eyes slightly and placed the bundle into Gwaine’s arms, smiling at the panic in the other man’s eyes. It amazed him how a battle-hardened warrior could be so panic-stricken at the thought of a mere baby and adjusted the man’s position so that the baby was safely cradled and settled in close.  
  
“Sir Gwaine, meet your son.”


End file.
